Arm support for embalmers



April 7, 1931. v 7 A T 1,799,781

ARM SUPPORT FOR EMBALMERS Filed April 28, 1928 I [W EN TOR.

A TTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 7, 1931 FRANK CHALFANT, OF FORT WAYNE,- INDIANA ARM SUPPORT EOBiEMIBALMERS Application filed April The invention relates to devices for use by embalmers in supporting the arms of a corpse.

In preparing a corpse for burial it is desirable that the hands rest on the abdomen at about the median line thereof. In this position of the hands the elbows are elevated and snug against the sides of the body so that the casket receives the body snugly, the upper 19 arms of the body resting upon the bedding.

If the elbows are bent so that the hands rest upon the abdomen and the elbows contact with the cooling board or table upon which the corpse is laid, the hands will contact with the sides of the abdomen. The arms will set in that position and if the elbows are raised after the body has been embalmed the hands will not rest upon the abdomen at the middle thereof but will take a position in front of it and they can not be forced against it.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple device by which an embalmer may support the arms of a corpse while he is embalming the body so that the hands will rest upon the abdomen at thedesired point and remain there permanently.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device; Fig. 2 a. central longitudinal crosssection of one of the sections of the device and Fig. 3 a side view of the other section, the arm rest being removed therefrom.

Referring to the illustrative embodiment of the invention, the device consists of two sections 1 and 2 adapted to adjustably interlock, and to support the two elbows of a corpse at any desired height.

Section 1 consists of a bar 3 having one end turned up and inclined inwardly to form a rest-carrier 4. This carrier is longitudinally slotted at 5 to receive a bolt 6 that projects from a flange 7 formed on the arm rest 8 by bending up one end of said rest. The upper end of the flange is slotted to form a lug 9 that is bent outwardly and also received by the slot 5, to prevent rotation of the rest on the carrier. A washer l0 and nut 11 on the projecting end of the bolt 6, when tightened,

1928. Serial n'o.,27s, se. v lock the rest to the carrier in any vertically adjusted position thereon within the limits of the length of the slot 5. The rest 8 isconcave longitudinally so as to engage under the forearm and hold it firmly. Since the carrier 4 is inclined inwardly, the arm supported on the rest 8, the bar 3 being disposed under the body,jtends to press downwardly in the longitudinal plane of the carrier, hence there is no tendency of the carrier to move or bow outwardly under the weight of the arm to cause the hand to move away from the desired point on the abdomen, which would be the case were the carrier d at right angles to the bar 3.

Section 2 of the device is similarly formed of a bar 12, a slotted carrier 13 and an arm rest 14 similarly adjustably mounted on the carrier 13. A depending lug 15 is formed at L; the free end of the bar 12 and is adapted, when the bar 12 is placed on the bar 3, to engage in any one of the apertures 16 that are formed in the bar 3.

Generally an embalmer injects the embalming fluid under the right arm of a corpse. In using my device, therefore, he will pass the bar 3 under the body and adjust the rest 8 to the desired height and engage it under the left arm so that the left elbow. will be elevated the desired height to cause" the left hand to rest at the median line or other desired point of the abdomen. This arm is now locked, as it were, in proper position. The embalmer then proceeds with his embalm'ing, the right arm of the corpse being manipulated more or less as the work proceeds. When the embalming fluid has been fully injected, section 2 is applied to the right arm, the rest 14 being properly ad justed on the carrier 13 as to height and the bar 12 is slid along on the bar 3 and the lug 15 engaged in the proper aperture 16 when the right hand has assumed the selected or natural position on the abdomen. The device 'is then left in the foregoing condition for a selected period of time and later removed. Upon its removal the hands rest naturally on the abdomen and remain there indefinitely. At the same time the elbows w are elevated and the insertion of the corpse into the casket is readily accomplished with the upper arms resting upon the bedding.

What I claim is:

1. An arm support for embalmers comprising a base, an upstanding member at one end of the base and an arm rest movably mounted on the inner face of the upstanding member for adjustment toward and from the base, a portion of the upstanding member being at all times above the arm rest and adapted to engage the outer side of the arm.

2. An arm support comprising a pair of longitudinally adjustably overlapped bases, each base having an upstanding member at its outer end, arm supports carried by the upstanding members and projecting toward each other, each arm support being adjustable vertically and a portion of each upstanding member being at all times above the arm support and adapted to engage the outer surface of the arm.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto sub-- scribed my name this 25th day of April, 1928.

FRANK CHALFANT. 

